Meant to Be: Urology/Ortho Update

In case you don't remember, Carter's renal ultrasound last month didn't look too great. Tuesday we went up to Children's to have a repeat ultrasound and see if the 3-4 times daily cathing was helping his fluid retention on his kidney/bladder. Dr. Joseph said everything looked much better - his ureter was still dilated, but it probably always will be. He said eventually we will talk about "reconnecting" Carter's urological plumbing, but he would probably always need to be cathed to keep fluid off of his kidney. It won't be for at least another year that we have to worry about that. The only other thing he addressed was that his urinary stoma was definitely too small, and should we need to go to the OR with any other doctor, he'd like to know so he could possibly revise the stoma while he was already under. We've been released for another 6 months, assuming he has no complications :) We like to hear that! This was an awesome appointment, and we were in and out before our actual appointment time ever came around! Carter had a blast flirting with the nurses and the resident. Afterward we took a trip to Johnny Rockets for burgers and milkshakes!
Today we went to Children's South to follow-up with Dr Conklin. Carter has been out of casts for 6 weeks, and has been tolerating his braces wonderfully. He actually doesn't like to have them off, and asks to have his socks and "shoes" back on! We've been wearing them pretty much 24x7... besides during swimming/bath time. Today, Dr Conklin let us know that his feet look beautiful, and that he's comfortable with us decreasing our wear to just 8 hours a day. He wants us to start seeing Early Intervention for physical therapy to help with Carter's developmental delays that have been caused by his muscular/skeletal issues. We'll be calling to set that up in the next month. He said he had no doubt that Carter would continue progressing on his own, but EI would help get him up to speed faster, and give us some things to work with him on at home. He released us for 6 months, but also suggested that we may want to be seen in the Spina Bifida Clinic, which incorporates Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, and Urology all in one day's worth of appointments. Dr Conklin, Dr Joseph, and Dr Blount all participate in this clinic - so we would essentially be seeing the same doctors, just all in one day. This will more than likely work really well for us now that we're going 6 months or so between most of our appointments. Dr Conklin's nurse is forwarding our information to Betsy (nurse in charge of SB Clinic) to see if we qualify to be seen in this clinic... while Carter's tethered cord was not a true case of SB, his history with urology and neurosurgery may fit the bill.

Tuesday in Urology clinic, Carter weighed in at 22 lbs. Today, he weighed in at a whopping 24 lbs. Mind you, he was fully clothed, shoes, AFOs, the whole deal - at both of these weights, but it's great to see numbers like that. The kid has been eating NON-STOP. It makes my heart happy to see him munch on mini-waffles in the morning :) He's even chugging his formula while holding the bottle himself... a big improvement from us having to sit and hold it/offer it for an hour for him to drink half. He basically eats anything we're eating - even most meats! He's a big fan of ice cream and cheddar Chex mix right now. I think for the first time we aren't stressing about his weight, and may actually be looking forward to our September appointment with Mary Jane!

Carter's speech also continues to thrive. The kid is such a ham and will show out like no other when you ask him to do or say something. He's an expert copy-cat... especially with noises. We love the way he says "Meemer"... which comes out something like "Muhhhmuhr" and sometimes he growls it when he really wants to get her attention. He's not big on calling out "Dadda," but has no qualms about shouting "Momma"... over.... and over... and over. His new favorite animal noise is the cow - "Booo!" We had a miscommunication on that one... but it's close! It's too much fun to watch him learn new things.

And now... for some pictures :)